My 10-year-old, who is a very picky eater, asked if I could make this every week after he tasted it for the first time. I guess he didn’t notice it had celery and onions in it!

This meal is perfect for busy weeknights, because it doesn’t take long to cook and it makes enough for leftovers the next night. Since it’s baseball season we tend to eat out a lot this time of year, which can get expensive. Cooking something the night before saves money, time, and gives your family something home-cooked.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 2 lbs ground sausage
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 3-4 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked rice
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or more if you’d like!)

Start by browning the ground sausage in a large skillet. When it’s cooked all the way, scoot it over to one side of the pan and saute the onion and celery in the sausage grease. (If there isn’t enough grease just add a tablespoon of butter or oil.) You can add a little seasoning at this point – I usually add cajun seasoning, but if you don’t want it spicy you can just use salt and pepper. Once the vegetables are tender, stir in the cream of chicken soup and chicken broth, then the rice and cheese. If your skillet isn’t deep enough to stir everything in, you can just transfer the cooked sausage and vegetables to a large mixing bowl.

Now pour the mixture into a greased 13×9 baking dish, cover it with foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until rice is cooked. You have to cover the dish with foil or the rice won’t cook evenly, so don’t forget that step.

Throw in some garlic bread or a biscuit and you have a meal! Since this uses sausage, it would also be a good breakfast casserole, and since it makes so much, it would be a good dish to take to someone you’re helping out.

I hope your family enjoys this meal as much as mine did! And I hope this gives you moms out there an idea for those busy weeknights.

Thanks y’all!

– Nikki